NGOs, CEOs, CTM and Law

Meetings meetings meetings this week. I'll cut the mediocre ones out and describe the four that made an impression:

1. We met with a NGO, the National Resources Defense Council, and they focused on cutting consumer usage. They couldn't point to a single preservation project they had ever worked on (national parks, restricted boating areas, etc.), which is strange knowing it's something Americans have seen as a number one priority. The state of China is in an industrial mode, and even the environmentalists agreed it is unfair to hold the country to the same standards as the United States, a country already well past industrial and into a service and technology era. The NGO is new and promising and well-needed.

2. A Lawyer working in the Yale-China law program met with us, and explained his way of pushing for change. He's a Yale Law school graduate, and works locally to institute effective legislation and set up town models to test the new policies. China's national budget is his largest concern, and he hopes to move it away from the "This is how much we will spend on whatever we want" attitude of the past to a "What should we spend on specifically and how much should we allot?" attitude of the future. It's refreshing to know that one can go to Law school and end up with a job like his--no cases, no politics, and the near-certainty of becoming a professor. I'm jealous.

3. The CEO of Horizon, the first and by far the largest public opinion polling company in China, told us about his company and life. His company is significant because it does major research apart from the Red government, although he does face three noted but unspoken restrictions (Tian'anmen/1989 Student rights, Tibet, President of China). He's also a celebrity with a talk show, dozens of blogs and news articles, and even appearances on Chinese equivalents of Dancing With The Stars. Fortune and success seem to be much sexier in Chinese culture (have you ever seen Mr. Gates on a dance floor?).

4. The hospital in Beijing that will care for Olympic athletes hosted us in 1970's fashion. That is, by hustling us around to the nicest places, planning everything to a tee and giving us gifts to force a positive idea of China down our throats. They had an entire wing of the hospital dedicated to Chinese Traditional Medicine (CTM), about a third of all beds available. CTM is a philosophy-based theory of medicine that does not use drugs, but herbs and faith and is viewed skeptically by the West. I spoke with many doctors who acknowledged its ineffectiveness, but told me "People use it because A. It's cheap and B. It has no side effects," and many use it when no Western medicine has proved effective (e.g. with cancer or other terminal diseases). I'm undecided whether to be sad they turn to CMT for these reasons or awed. These people, with no other options, accept it with every ounce of faith--it's all they can do, else.